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The 400 Years Project

14 Feb 2019
Emily
News

On January 1st of this year, I began a project marking the 400th year since the first people were brought against their will to the North American mainland from Africa. I urge you to join this project by subscribing to my blog. You will receive weekly blogs that use lessons from 400 years of systemic racism and white supremacy to encourage and guide anti-racism work, particularly by those who acknowledge that they benefit from such systemic racism.

I seek 400 people to take the following pledge: “To mark 400 years of racial oppression in colonial America and the United States, I pledge to confront systemic racism more directly and take concrete steps to repair the harm done.” I will then collect examples of such direct and concrete steps, share them on a website I am building, along with an annotated list of 400 books, articles, or videos that I recommend you explore to support your commitment to anti-racism work.This project will be guided most by the writings of people of color, particularly authors who were enslaved and their descendants. I will focus mainly on how racism in the United States has hurt Africans brought to this land and their descendants, but acknowledge that non-whites from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are often brutal victims of racism. I hope my particular focus will help deconstruct systemic racism that affects many people, as well as open up more space to deal with other forms of oppression based on gender, identity, orientation, country of origin, economic privilege, religion, and more.

I am focusing on history in part because many people of color tell me that they are tired of both being the victims of racism and asked to solve racism. Many people of color have already shared their wisdom in countless writings from slave narratives to peer reviewed articles to award winning historical works. I want to tap that deep resource through this project.

If you want to share questions or comments immediately, you can email me at HughTM@gmail.com. If you subscribe to my blog through this link, http://eepurl.com/gdeHJb, you will be updated as to construction of a website along with forums for broader conversation. Join me in trying to become more aware, intentional, and committed to the work of anti-racism.

Hugh Taft-Morales is the Ethical Culture Leader of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Ethical Societies. Hugh graduated from Yale University in 1979 and earned a Masters in Philosophy from University of Kent at Canterbury. He taught philosophy and history for twenty-five years in Washington, DC, after which he transitioned into Ethical Culture Leadership. This is his independent project—as much a learning experience as a modest effort to help others become more committed to, and effective in, anti-racism work.

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On this final day of Black History Month, we honor Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a Black playwright and journalist.Hansberry’s partly autobiographical play “A Raisin in the Sun,” shocked Broadway audiences when a Black character declared, “God is just one idea I don’t accept. ... It’s just that I get so tired of him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no God! There is only man, and it’s he who makes miracles!” She worked with W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson on an African-American progressive newspaper, until her life was tragically cut short at age 34 by cancer.#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackNonBelievers #BlackHumanism ... See MoreSee Less

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A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), was a Black labor organizer.Randolph was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Black union. He helped convince President Franklin Roosevelt to desegregate military production factories during World War II, and organized the 1963 March on Washington with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1973, Randolph signed the Humanist Manifesto II, a public declaration of Humanist principles.#blackhistory #blackhumanism #BlackHistoryMonth ... See MoreSee Less

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Do you have teens at home looking for a fun weekend full of Ethical connections? There's still time to sign up for AEU's National Youth of Ethical Societies Annual Conference, happening online March 5-7th!This year's topic is the American public education system. Discussions will include:•Comparing our similarities and differences between our districts•Standardized testing•Exploring teachers’ points of view vs. students’•The American education system vs. foreign systems•Common core•The future of education•Attending virtual classes•Inequities and how different forms of oppression are perpetuated by our current system•The school to prison pipeline•School districting that leads to segregation•Mental health resources•Correctional officers/police in schools•And more!Sign up here: ow.ly/li2T50DJh4q ... See MoreSee Less

YES Conference 2021

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Join the AEU for this year's YES National Conference! On the weekend of March 5, we will gather online to share our thoughts on this year's topic: America's Public Education System

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"At its core, we are teaching children to care, about ethics, about caring for community, others and the earth," said Jessi Almstead. "We're teaching compassion for all beings, a sense of fairness and justice for all, citizenship and community service and altruism. It's not a fixed set of beliefs, but it's a learning environment where children are encouraged to think for themselves, to think critically and think ethically." ... See MoreSee Less

Society celebrates Black History Month with children's stories

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LEWISBURG — The Susquehanna Valley Ethical Society (SVES) celebrated Black History Month with a live reading of children's books each week on Facebook Live.

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On this final day of Black History Month, we honor On this final day of Black History Month, we honor Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a Black playwright and journalist.

Hansberry’s partly autobiographical play “A Raisin in the Sun,” shocked Broadway audiences when a Black character declared, “God is just one idea I don’t accept. ... It’s just that I get so tired of him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no God! There is only man, and it’s he who makes miracles!” She worked with W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson on an African-American progressive newspaper, until her life was tragically cut short at age 34 by cancer.

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackNonBelievers #BlackHumanism
A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), was a Black labor A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), was a Black labor organizer.

Randolph was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly black union. He helped convince President Franklin Roosevelt to desegregate military production factories during World War II, and organized the 1963 March on Washington with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 

In 1973, Randolph signed the Humanist Manifesto II, a public declaration of Humanist principles.

#BlackHistory #BlackHumanism #BlackHistoryMonth
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